Conventional automatic car wash systems in use at the present time normally provide large blowers for drying vehicles as they exit from the car washing apparatus. While the blowing of large quantities of air over the vehicle is effective to some extent, it is usually required to hand wipe the vehicles to effect a complete drying and remove any "spotting." In addition, the provision of the blowers themselves is expensive and a substantial horsepower is required to operate the same.
In an effort to overcome some of the foregoing problems, it has been proposed to introduce mechanical type wiping arrangements which would replace, to a large extent, the necessity for hand wiping of the vehicle after it passes through the car wash and further would reduce substantially the amount of power or energy required for any blowers that might be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,394 illustrates one such apparatus for the drying of vehicles. In the particular structure shown in the patent, there are provided a pair of endless loop chains positioned above the path of travel of a vehicle to which transverse rods are attached. Suitable cloth material or moisture-absorbing towels are hung from the transverse rods so that as the endless chain loops move, the towels are dragged over the vehicle. While the approach set forth in the foregoing patent is a step in the right direction towards diminishing the total overall power required at a car wash facility, the structure itself is elongated in the path of travel in order to accommodate the necessary number of depending towels to effectively wipe the car dry. In other words, the total path that the car must travel through the entire apparatus is necessarily elongated to accommodate the depending towel structures. Further, should any of the depending towels become snagged on a vehicle, the entire apparatus would normally have to be shut down to free the towel or alternatively, the entire cloth structure depending from the particular transverse rod involved could be badly torn.